Mary Smith
Theresa "Mary" Smith was the troublesome punk teenager who lived at 23B Albert Square with her often neglected young daughter, Annie Smith. Mary would often leave Annie in the care of others whilst she would carry out reckless activities with her punk friends. In 1985, she befriended Sheena Mennell, a stripper, who persuaded her to get involved and become one herself. However, when Mary left Annie in the care of Sheena, Sheena left Annie in the care of a client. Mary ultimately cut all ties with Sheena following the incident. In 1986, Mary befriended Andy O'Brien and he taught her to read and write. However, Mary developed feelings for Andy and felt humiliated when he did not feel the same way. She returned to her punk ways and later developed a friendship with Mehmet Osman. Unaware that Mehmet was betting with his brother, Ali Osman, behind her back on whether he could have sex with her or not, Mary innocently got closer to him, but after learning his true intentions, she was infuriated and got her own back. By 1987, Mary was prostituting herself and faced a danger of losing Annie. The local residents grew concerned for Mary but she did not care for them. Annie was later given to Mary's parents when she was unable to adequately care for her and left her life in danger following a fire in her flat whilst she was left alone. Mary then met Rod Norman and struck up a relationship with him. By the end of 1987, Annie had returned home to Mary. She left Albert Square in 1988 after getting fed up of her family's interfering ways, although she returned once more in 2019 for the funeral of Dr Legg. Biography 1985: Beginning to go astray Mary moved into 23B Albert Square with her daughter, Annie Smith, following the death of Reg Cox in February 1985. Upon arriving in the Square, Mary immediately felt outcast due to her punk appearance. Initially, she was incredibly protective over Annie and was furious with Ethel Skinner when she asked her to babysit Annie once, and upon returning from her errands could not find either of them. Ethel had been walking Annie around the Square, but Mary was unaware. Mary was unemployed and lived off of money she received from the Department of Social Security (DSS). However, in October 1985 she befriended stripper Sheena Mennell, and was persuaded to get involved in her antics to make quick cash. Mary enjoyed a more upper-class lifestyle off the back of her earnings, although she soon quit her job as a stripper when she left Annie in the care of Sheena, who subsequently left Annie in the care of a stranger. 1986-1987: Relationships and losing Annie In 1986, Annie started suffering with breathing difficulties. Mary rushed to find paediatric nurse Andy O'Brien, who checked Annie over and reassured Mary she was okay. From there, Andy and Mary struck up a friendship. Andy learnt that Mary was illiterate and decided to give her reading and writing lessons. Mary was grateful for Andy's kind gesture, but she then developed feelings for him, and was hopeful of a relationship. She changed her appearance in the hopes Andy would grow to her, but was crushed when he did not reciprocate her advances. She quickly returned to her punk appearance afterwards and, penniless, she became desperate for a job once more. Nick Cotton noticed Mary's desperation and attempted to pimp her, but Andy intervened and bagged her a job in his hospital's canteen. Her job as a canteen assistant was short-lived though, as when they promoted her and she frantically quit due to her illiteracy. Later in 1986, Mary began talking with Mehmet Osman. She developed feelings for him and, unaware he was betting with his brother, Ali Osman, on whether he could sleep with her, she innocently got closer to him, but after later learning of his true intentions, she was furious. She kneed him in the groin in The Queen Victoria and then started prank calling him and his brother's minicab firm, Ozcabs. Ali grew tired of Mary's payback on him and Mehmet, and begged her to stop. By December 1986, Mary was desperate for money again, so was persuaded by Pat Wicks to turn to prostitution. However, by early 1987 Mary's passion for prostitution led her to be assaulted by other prostitutes for trespassing in their area. She confided in Sue Osman over her assault but Sue was unsupportive when she learnt what she was up to. Despite the assault, Mary continued to prostitute herself. She even ignored healthcare worker Carmel Roberts, who warned her that she could lose Annie if she continued doing what she did. Mary eventually resorted to leaving Annie alone in her flat whilst she went out and worked, as residents would refuse to look after her, knowing what Mary was up to. One night, after leaving Annie alone, Annie threw her blanket out of her cot and onto a radiator. It caught fire and fortunately for Mary, Arthur Fowler saved her. Dot Cotton grew tired of Mary's mistreatment towards Annie and decided to get her parents involved in the situation by phoning her father, Chris Smith. Chris and Mary's mother, Edie Smith, arrived shortly afterwards and took Annie up to Stockport with them. Mary was crushed after she lost Annie and felt there was no hope left for her. She started hanging out with her punk group of friends again and met roadie Rod Norman. Rod had a positive influence on Mary and the pair soon struck up a relationship. Rod helped Mary regain control of her life and stop prostituting herself. She got a job as a cleaner at The Dagmar and Rod helped provide stability for her. By late 1987, Mary felt she was ready to have Annie back. She worked alongside Carmel to do what it took to get Annie back, but her interfering mother, Edie, decided to apply for full custody of Annie. Mary was distraught over Edie's plans and told Rod she wanted to commit suicide. Rod intervened and informed Chris of Mary's struggles; Chris quickly realised what had to be done and returned Annie. On Christmas Eve, Chris tried to convince Mary to return home to Stockport and spend Christmas with the family. Mary refused to go home, given what her family had put her through, so Chris kidnapped Annie and drove off, but crashed into a postbox on his way out of Albert Square. Mary struggled to forgive her father for what he had done. 1988: Returning to old ways Mary and Rod's relationship began to break down in 1988 due to Mary's hot-headed nature and her obsessiveness in Annie. She began slacking at the launderette, where she bagged a job following Dot's sacking, which caused both Chris and Rod concerns. Her relationship with Rod completely broke down in March 1988 when he forgot to pick Annie up from playgroup. She threw him out of her flat and began to struggle on her own. She began asking residents to look after Annie again and would go out partying. She then turned to drugs when Rod returned and told her he had found himself a new girlfriend. Rod was concerned for Mary and tried to stop her from taking drugs, but was unsuccessful. Mary started taking Annie to squat parties with her and behaving irresponsibly once more. Chris tried to get her life back on track by offering her a job at his new haulage service company, but Mary was not too keen. She then fell for Simon Wicks but was left dejected and turned to drugs once more when he jilted her for a date with Donna Ludlow. She was pushed to breaking point in May 1988 when Edie decided she was going to move to Albert Square to be close to her family again. Rod then told Mary he felt she did not know where she was going in life and was helpless. Dissatisfied with life in Walford and her family's plans to return, Mary took Annie, threw a pot of paint at Chris's company's portakabin, got on a bus and stuck two fingers up at the Square. 2019: A brief return Following the death of Dr Legg in 2019, Mary decided to return to the Square once more and pay her respects, alongside Lofty Holloway. Whilst back in the Square, Mary reminisced with long-standing residents Kathy Beale, Dot Branning and Sharon Mitchell. She told Annie about the difficult time she had with her, and how Dot helped her out. Background information * Mary was one of the original set of twenty-three characters in EastEnders. * Linda Davidson was chosen to play the role of Mary because series co-creators Tony Holland and Julia Smith felt Davidson was the right age and had a northern accent which would suit the character's background. * Jenna Russell was initially offered the role of Mary Smith, but turned the job down as she felt she was too young and the show was not the right fit for her at the time. First and last lines "Yeah." (First line, to Naima Jeffery) --- "It's going to burn all night." (Final line, to Dot Branning) See also *Full list of appearances Category:EastEnders characters Category:Original characters Category:Smith family Category:1985 debuts Category:2019 departures Category:Residents of 23B Albert Square Category:Launderette staff Category:The Dagmar staff